North Korea blew up part of an inter-Korean road on Tuesday, according to Seoul, as tensions rose on the divided peninsula.
These symbolic explosions, the first of their kind, followed North Korea’s military announcement last week that it would cut road and rail links to the South as a “self-defense measure to prevent war.” This move came in response to a series of joint military exercises conducted by South Korea and the United States in August.
In reaction, South Korea fired warning shots near the border and described the blasts as a highly “abnormal” action.
The explosions also followed North Korean accusations that South Korea had sent drones over the capital, Pyongyang, last week. Leader Kim Jong Un described the alleged drone flights as a “grave provocation.”
“The moment a [South Korean] drone is spotted again in the sky over our capital, it will definitely lead to a terrible disaster,” Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, warned on Sunday.
Seoul has neither confirmed nor denied the allegations regarding the drones. However, South Korea’s defense ministry issued a stern response on Sunday, stating, “If North Korea harms our people, it will be the end of the regime.”
South Korea, which has declared North Korea its main threat, is actively developing its defense capabilities in alliance with the United States and Japan.
North Korea’s decision to begin dismantling road and rail links between the two Koreas follows Kim Jong Un’s recent shift away from his country’s long-held goal of eventual reunification. This shift occurred after South Korea officially designated North Korea as its primary security threat.
In January, Kim told North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly that South Korea was now the nation’s “archenemy” and ordered officials to dismantle state institutions focused on reunification and inter-Korean tourism.
Since then, the North Korean military has removed some railway lines and installed landmines and anti-tank barriers on the northern side of the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula.
